On Saturday, May 24, September Morn Beach and Mannion Bay hosted scenes of simulated marine rescues by the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR). In the first scene, two women, both in shock and hypothermic, one suffering from a slashed arm and leg and the other from a concussion, were pulled off the rocks at September Morn beach after their sailboat capsized. They had made it to shore in a life raft. Both were transported by an RCMSAR crew to an ambulance at Horseshoe Bay.
An RCMSAR crew was called later in the day to provide emergency medical assistance to a boater in Mannion Bay.
Both rescue simulations were part of the on-going training of RCMSAR crews from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island at a SAREX training day out of Horseshoe Bay.
“I really got into it,” said the bleeding victim from the September Morn beach simulation.
“When the RCM lifeboat and crew showed up I closed my eyes, wailed in pain, and didn’t let up until they got me to the dock. I wanted to make it as realistic for them as I could.”
The concussed victim from the same beach said, “I actually felt like my head hurt and pretended to lose consciousness to make it more challenging for them.”
In Mannion Bay, besides dealing with the boater with a medical emergency, the rescue crew also worked at calming the man’s distraught wife who accompanied him on the lifeboat to Horseshoe Bay.
Other simulated rescues that took place as part of Saturday’s training day included scenarios with two injured mountain bikers, a burn victim and a hiker with a broken leg.
RCMSAR supports the Canadian Coast Guard and is dispatched out of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. There are presently 46 RMC stations located along the Pacific West Coast with 10 of those stations in the Lower Mainland. The volunteer organization is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their crews are willing to risk their lives to provide emergency services and to help anyone in distress on or near the water. RCMSAR relies on public donations to keep their lifeboats running and their crews equipped with the necessary tools needed to save lives. The organization also promotes marine safety education, including boat safety checks and advice, and community lectures.
